At least four deputies at County Jail No. 4 at 850 Bryant St. threatened inmates with violence or withheld food if they did not fight each other, gladiator-style, for the entertainment of the deputies, Adachi said.

Adachi said the ringleader in these fights was Deputy Scott Neu, who was accused in 2006 of forcing inmates to perform sexual acts on him. [...]

The public defender's office hired a private investigator to look into the claims, and the attorneys were going to wait until their clients were safe and out of the jail before they came forward with the allegations. But they received word that another fight was planned for next week, Adachi said.

Though Harris and Garcia told Adachi they wanted to stay where they were so they could work in the kitchen (the deputies having been reassigned), Mirkarimi said they had been transferred to another San Francisco jail “for their protection.”

One of the shitty things about being a charge of the state (like being an orphan) is that your friend network can get taken away and you have no say.